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(PhysOrg.com) -- Following up on evidence that Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals mated and produced offspring, following the sequencing of the Neanderthal genome last year, Peter Parham, professor of microbiology and immunology at Stanford, set forth evidence in a presentation to the Royal Society in London last week that shows that humans benefited from such encounters by having human leukocyte antigens (HLAs), added to their genomes, which in turn helped them to fight off diseases native to northern climates.
One such allele, known as HLA-C*0702, for example, is common among modern Europeans and Asians but is never seen in African nations - suggesting that it found its way into humans through breeding with other races.
Another, the HLA-A*11 - seen among Asians but not those of African descent was discovered by Parham in the Denisovan genome, indicating that its source was interbreeding outside of Africa.
And while the more recently discovered race of hominins in Siberia, called Denisovans, hasn’t had its genome sequenced yet, evidence thus far suggest that early humans mated with them as well, which also led to new alleles appearing in their genes; one such, the HLA-A*11 shows up in Asians, but not Africans.
The mtDNA of the Denisova hominin is distinct from the mtDNAs of Neanderthals and modern humans. In December 2010, an international team of scientists determined the sequence from the nuclear genome of this group (known as the Denisovans) from this finger bone. According to their analysis, this group shares a common origin with the Neanderthals and interbred with the ancestors of modern Melanesians
Melanesia is a subregion of Oceania extending from the western end of the Pacific Ocean to the Arafura Sea, and eastward to Fiji. The region comprises most of the islands immediately north and northeast of Australia. The name Melanesia was first used by Jules Dumont d'Urville in 1832 to denote an ethnic and geographical grouping of islands distinct from Polynesia and Micronesia.....
There was probably a long period of interaction that resulted in many complex changes in genetics, languages, and culture. It is possible that from this area a very small group of people (speaking an Austronesian language) departed to the east to become the forebears of the Polynesian people. This finding is, however, contradicted by a study published by Temple University finding that Polynesians and Micronesians have little genetic relation to Melanesians; instead, they found significant distinctions between groups living within the Melanesian islands. Genome scans show Polynesians have little genetic relationship to Melanesians.
Originally posted by MapMistress
Very very fascinating. Especially all the interesting DNA research.
Only thing is that the theory doesn't allow for the climate of Africa when modern humans appear, nor land bridges to islands as sea levels had dropped at the Last Glacial Maximum.
Originally posted by Gorman91
reply to post by SLAYER69
Yea, I think that too. Cause I mean, just for example, the description of Noah's ark is, essentially, plywood. Even though plywood wasn't invented until the 60s.
At its peak, the floodplain now below the Gulf would have been about the size of Great Britain, and then shrank as water began to flood the area. Then, about 8,000 years ago, the land would have been swallowed up by the Indian Ocean
The Gulf Oasis would have been a shallow inland basin exposed from about 75,000 years ago until 8,000 years ago, forming the southern tip of the Fertile Crescent, according to historical sea-level records.
"Perhaps it is no coincidence that the founding of such remarkably well developed communities along the shoreline corresponds with the flooding of the Persian Gulf basin around 8,000 years ago," Rose said. "These new colonists may have come from the heart of the Gulf, displaced by rising water levels that plunged the once fertile landscape beneath the waters of the Indian Ocean."